Mingmei Yao
Mingmei Yao '(姚明媚, ''Yao Mingmei) is an original character created by trippi, and she appears in the fanfiction Fēng Shuǐ. She hails from the empire of Zhongguo, and is part of the near-extinct Yao clan. She is the fifth member of Sasuke Uchiha's group Taka, and used to be part of the Tǎ Jūn (literally meaning Tower Army), a small organization created to protect the leaders of Zhongguo. Background Mingmei's past is learned mostly through flashbacks. '''This article has many spoilers for both canon and the fic. Mingmei was born in Zhongguo, a country west of a large desert. She was the first child of the Emperor Chen Huang and his first wife. Since she is a girl, she is unable to pass on the family name, own land, recieve an education/job, learn her clan's techniques, etc., he was angered that his first-born was a girl, because it was an honour for the first born to be male, so he forced his wife to either kill the infant or abandon her at an orphanage. She chose to abandon the girl, and she tried to name her Mei-Li (美丽, Měilì - beautiful one), ''but was discovered by her husband and was beheaded. Mingmei didn't spend much time in the orphanage, because she was adopted by an elderly man named Yingjie Yao after about a week. He nursed her and when she was able to walk, he began training her in the Martial Arts of the Yao Clan. Mingmei grew up believing that Yingjie was her real grandfather and that she was a Yao by blood. Yingjie continued to train Mingmei who surpassed him when she turned 10 years old. After this, he began to teach her a "sixth sense" that enables her to sense the Qi (气, ''Ch'i - energy flow, vital energy/life force) of living things. Her lessons became less frequent as her grandfather's health began to deteriorate, and he encouraged her to practice with weapons and other techniques on her own, and to try to further learn the Yao Martial Arts. A year later, on her grandfather's deathbed, he gave her two scrolls, one that had a sealed spear and double blades, and the other scroll had the message for how to break the seal of the first scroll. He asked her to never stray from the righteous path and to protect those important to her. At this time, Mingmei has discovered her goal; to become part of the Tǎ Jūn and protect the Royal Family, and possibly even quell rebellions, regardless of having to disguise her gender and decieve the Emperor, the man she doesn't know is her birth father. She learned how to unseal the scroll after some time, and began practicing vigourously, learning how to use the weapons given to her by trial and error. She became very skilled with the spear and double blades, even creating some new techniques with it. She also practiced how to make her voice sound deeper and made her body less feminine by tightening wrappings around her chest and pulling her hair back in what is considered in Zhonggese culture a masculine way. She underwent an exam at the age of thirteen to prove her skill in front of Emperor Chen Huang, his son, and advisors. She was accepted, and quickly rose in ranks until she became one of the Emperor and the Royal Family's personal bodyguards. She and his son, Zhaoming (her half-brother, unknown to the both of them), became close friends, to the point that she even revealed her true face to him. He promised that he wouldn't tell a soul, and for a long time, about three years, her secret was safe with him. Unfortunately, this was a grave mistake for her, as Zhaoming accidentally spoke of it out loud when a higher-up was near. As she's being chased in large building, she reached the Emperor's room, where she came face to face with him. He said that she looked a lot like his first wife, and was about to let her go. Mingmei mistook him pulling out his two swords as a sign that he would attack her, and killed him to protect herself. Almost immediately, she realized what she had done and was horrified at the realization that she possibly had turned an entire nation against herself. She quickly wrote a note to Zhaoming on a piece of the second scroll she was given by her grandfather, hoping that she would save him from seeking revenge. She wrote "Forgive me for murdering your father, the late Emperor Chen Huang. Please do not stray from the righteous path and please become Emperor to better Zhongguo, our precious empire." She was cornered by three of the guards she worked with near one of the large windows in the room, and set off a flashbang to give herself time to escape through the window. At first she is believed to be dead, as one guard notes that nobody could survive jumping from that height. Zhaoming only recieved the second part of her note, and angrily vowed to seek revenge on her by finding and killing her. She believes that she is still being followed, so she quickly visits the tiny Yao clan compound to take some supplies (mainly an assortment of grenades, Imperial mask, Zhonggese kunai, her weapon scroll, a map, and some water) with her as she prepares to traverse the expansive desert to reach the "fabled" 5 Great Nations on the other side. She has set a new goal for herself; to find a person or group of people to use as a distraction in case she's found so she can run while her pursuer tries to get past them by disposing of them. Her journey begins well as she travels by foot, but as she slowly runs out of water, she gets caught in a tornado-sandstorm and is thrown off course and out of the desert. Personality Before Mingmei became a renegade, she was absolutely loyal to Chen Huang and Zhongguo. She wouldn't hesitate to eliminate anything that threatened the lives of them. She also believed that since she was disguised as a male, that she would have to act rough and keep her emotions to herself, as to not blow her cover. She rarely spoke, only when she had to, and she refused to shout or yell, with the fear that her voice might break and that she would reveal herself. Everyday, she lived with the fear of being discovered, and because of this, she rarely socialized with the other guards, and would even eat her meals on the outside of the building a top a roof, with the excuse that she would make sure that nobody with malicious intent tries to enter. When she decides what her new goal is, it seems selfish and uncaring of her, and she even notes that her grandfather would berate her greatly for this, meaning that she still feels some guilt if the group "protecting" her dies. On the surface, Mingmei possesses a seemingly introverted, calm, and no-nonsense facade. She is very proud of her power and her clan, and does not take insults to her ancestors, clan, or herself lightly. If someone underestimates her abilities, she'll be noticeably irked by this and will mention that she's perfecly capable of holding her own in battle. This side of her is seen for a moment when Karin mentions that she has a below average amount of chakra. Mingmei will show her true personality under pressure; passionate fighting spirit, arrogant, but also cautious and calculating. However, if she is angered enough during a fight, she may fly into an uncontrollable rage and her fighting style will become more straightforward, and possibly predictable. Appearance Mingmei has dark-brown eyes and her hair is almost black. Her skin is fair, and she has a lean muscular build with broad shoulders, due to years of training. When she worked for the Emperor, she wore black Zhonggese guard uniform with layers of lightweight body armor, a tie to hold her scroll for her spear, and fingerless gloves with removeable spiked knuckles, as well as gaiters on her legs to support the muscles and tendons between her calves and bottoms of her feet, because of the high jumps she constantly does with her spear. Her mask (worn by all Zhonggese warriors), which was destroyed by Sasuke, helped conceal her gender and identity. She tied her hair back in a messy, "masculine" ponytail and held back her longer bangs in it while the shorter bangs fell on her face. After she's "forced" join Team Taka, she begins wearing an almost completely different attire, with a dark-grey close-fitting, sleeveless turtleneck, matching short jacket with long white ribbons in the back and skirt with chain-mail underneath, and boots with gaiters. She also styles her hair differently, letting loose her longer bangs and spiking shorter layers of hair in the back, as well as a loose ponytail. There are remnants of her old uniform as well; she wears the same gloves, but they're unrolled and the knuckles are removed. There are also pieces of bronze armor protruding from above the tie at her waist. When she recieves surgery to recreate her left arm from water, her outfit changes slightly; The left sleeve on her jacket is shortened until it reaches her shoulder, and the ribbons on it have been shortened greatly as well, and she placed the knuckles on her gloves again. She now wears shoes/boots similar to Karin's (seemingly to complete the "Taka" look), but still wears gaiters over them, tightened in place by small belts. After she fights her half brother for the second time, and possibly final time, she loses her jacket with the ribbons. Abilities Mingmei is extremely prideful of her strength, which can lead to her losing a battle. She is skilled with the spear and the double blades, to a lesser extent. She knows very little seals, so her Ninjutsu is limited, and her primary chakra nature is Wind. Zhongguo Art and Yao Clan Martial Arts (Taijutsu and Sōjutsu) Every clan in Zhongguo has warriors that possess the ability to sense Qi - Mingmei is no excepti on. Through this ability, Mingmei is able to identify a person or animal and to sense what is real and what isn't, but she doesn't learn the former until she learns of genjutsu and chakra. The Yao clan specializes in combat with lances (mainly spears similar to yari; sōjutsu), and the use of explosives to aid in battle. Mingmei seems to have a preference for flashbangs and hand grenades, as well. When in hand-to-hand combat, Mingmei performs sharp, acrobatic like movements combined with what appears to be judo, karate and tai chi. She applies j udo and karate principles when attacking, and taichi when being attacked, seeming to "flow" with it. Mingmei also performs high jumps being able to jump up to about 55 meters in height, and to land on her target, attempting to impale them. The tip of her spear generally touches the ground first, allowing her to regain balance the moment her feet touch on the ground. With the double blades, she uses them mainly as a decoy to keep an element of surprise. If one or both of them falls on the ground, it/they will appear to melt into the ground, until Mingmei can focus her Qi to retrieve them from the earth, in either how they were, or into the spear. She created a personalized technique, naming it Zhongguo Art: Divider of Heaven (中国艺术：天坛分频器 - Zhōngguó Yìshù: tiān tán fēn pín qì). Nature Transformation Mingmei discovered Nature Transformation after learning of chakra. She has a natural affinity for Wind Release, and later becomes able to use some Water Release, due to unusual circumstances. *Wind Release: Razor Wave - Mingmei forces chakra to her spear's blade, and as she slashes or thrusts, a razor sharp wind will be released and can cut through various objects, except layered iron, rock, and diamond. *Wind Release: Little Birds - This seems to increase her speed slightly, but she uses it mostly to enhance her high jumps. As she's descending, she creates a thin layer of chakra around her body to decrease friction with the air, so she can reach the ground faster and with more strength. Hydrifition Technique (Left Arm Only) She later acquires the ability to use this technique after some of Suigetsu's chakra is implanted into the nerve cells of her left shoulder to recreate her arm. She can turn her limb into liquid, but she can't change the size or shape of it, because her chakra control is below average. Similar to Suigetsu, she must now stay hydrated in order to maintain the form of her arm. In order to reenforce her arm's strength, Suigetsu had her create a "bone" made of ice so there is at least a foundation for her arm. Her left arm is now suspectible to freezing solid and lightning-based jutsu. Stats Part II Mingmei has only recently fled the empire of Zhongguo as is caught in a tornado-sandstorm, where she loses her water supply and the map, and faints during the storm. Land of Rivers Arc - Feng Shui Mingmei is found by a bewildered Suigetsu, after observing the body fall from the sky out of seemingly nowhere. As he moves "it's" body around with his foot and wonders of the gender, she awakens, and immediately alarmed, kicks Suigetsu in the face, causing it form into water and he falls on the ground from the impact. She is greatly surprised, to the point of almost freaking out, but attempts to maintain her composure. She then engages in a skirmish with Suigetsu, who thinks she's a man still. When he finally catches her in a trap, he removes her mask and is surprised to see a woman. Still caught in the trap, Mingmei faints again, from exhaustion and thirst. Suigetsu proceeds to destroy the trap, wakes her and shoves a water bottle in her face. Thinking she may be useful, he questions her and when she discovers he's travelling with a group, she restrains herself from asking if she could travel as well, and instead anwers his questions. etc. Concept and Creation During Mingmei's creation, her name was originally going to be Jun Yeung, Jun meaning "truth", and Yeung meaning "the sun". Her features were about the same, but with her hair in a bun with "ribbons" reaching her lower back, and her bangs were less wild and spikey. "Jun Yeung's" clothing consisted of charcoal-coloured pants that were slightly above her ankles with black kung fu shoes, and a beige traditional Chinese shirt with long sleeves. Her design was scrapped due to looking too "feminine" for someone disguised as a male and her weapons were done with little effort, so her design was redone at least two more times, the last time being the most recent. Her personality was originally meant to be serious to a fault, with a very sharp gaze, and would rarely speak. This idea was scrapped as well, as it wouldn't seem fitting for someone who was a "foreigner", and would seem to have adjusted to the "culture shock" too fast. Trivia *Mingmei (明媚) means "bright", and her surname Yao (姚) literally means "far away". *Mingmei wishes to fight Zhaoming Huang and Sasuke Uchiha. *Mingmei's favourite phrase is "There are no hawks where little birds play". *Her favourite foods are won ton soup and jiaozi, while she dislikes beef meatballs. Category:Original Character Category:female Category:Kekkei Genkai Category:FINAL